Vessels, Scientific Research

ocean, lake, and river vessels designed for the study of bodies of water, the ocean floor, the atmosphere, or outer space and constructed specifically for such purposes or converted from other types of vessels. Scientific

Table 1a. Major specifications of some Soviet and foreign scientific research vessels
Vessel	Year of construction	Length (m)	Displacement (tons)	Power output, main engine		Speed (mph)	Range (miles)	Personnel		Number of laboratories	Principal research missions
				(hp)	(kW)			Crew	Researchers
Note: A date In parentheses under “Year of construction” indicates year of conversion to a scientific research vessel. ¹ First of a series of vessels operated by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, and GUGMS, including the Dmitrii Mendeleev, Akademik Vernadskll, Professor Vize, and Professor Zubov ²First of a series of vessels operated by the Weather Service, including the Musson, Viktor Bugaev, Georgii Ushakov, and Ernest Krenkel’ ³First of a series of vessels that Includes the Akademlk Berg, Professor Deriugin, and Persei-lll ⁴First of a series of scientific research vessels ⁵First of a series of vessels that includes the Professor Vodianitskii and Professor Kurentsov ⁶First of a series of intermediate-tonnage vessels that includes the Vulkanolog ⁷First of a series of vessels that includes the Vsevolod Berezkin and lakov Gakkel’
Soviet scientific research vessels
Vitiaz’ ..............	1939 (1948)	109.4	5,710	3,000	2,220	13	18,000	72	53	14	Diversified oceanography
Mikhail Lomonosov ..............	1957	102.4	5,960	2,450	1,813	13	11,000	70	65	17	Hydrophysics
Iu. M. Shokal’skii ..............	1959	84.0	3,600	2,000	1,480	12	15,000	51	57	12	Hydrometeorology
A. I. Voeikov ..............	1958	84.0	3,600	2,000	1,480	12	15,000	55	50	12	Hydrometeorology
Petr Lebedev ..............	1960	94	4,600	2,500	1,850	13	12,000	60	50	10	Oceanographic engineering
Ob’ ..............	1954	130.0	12,600	8,000	5,880	15.5	18,000	65	65	g	Diversified oceanooraphy in Antarctica
Akademik Kurchatov¹ ..............	1966	124.2	6,828	8,000	5,880	18	20,000	84	84	25	Diversified oceanography
Passat² ..............	1968	97	4,146	4,800	3,552	14	15,000	55	50	12	Hydrometeorology
Kallisto ..............	1964	79.8	3,275	1,340	992	11	10,000	45	30	4	Hydrobiology
Zaria ..............	1953	42.5	605	300	222	7	5,000	24	10	4	Geomagnetism
Akademik Knipovich³ ..............	1966	84.6	3,730	2,000	1,480	13	14,000	80	27	12	Ichthyology, hydrobiology
Evrika⁴ ..............	1971	82.2	3,270	1,160	858	13	17,800	63	13	13	Ichthyology, hydrobiology
Odissei ..............	1970	84.5	3,840	2,400	1,776	12.5	11,500	75	39	7	Ichthyology, hydrobiology
Akademik Arkhangel’skii ..............	1964	44.8	544	300	222	10	7,000	22	12	3	Geology, geophysics
Poisk ..............	1974	54.8	1,128	1,000	740	12.2	40 days	25	15	5	Geology, geophysics
Professor Bogorov⁵ ..............	1975	68.8	1,600	2,000	1,480	13.5	10,000	30	22	10	Geology, geophysics
Akademik A. Kovalevskii ..............	1949 (1954)	38.5	455	360	266	8	5,000	28	10	4	Marine biology
Professor Dobrynin ..............	1963	25.2	105	150	111	8	1,700	7	7	2	Marine geology
Morskoi geotizik⁶ ..............	1976	54.8	1,009	1,000	740	11	10,000	24	16	5	Geology, geophysics
Valerian Uryvaev⁷ ..............	1973	54.7	1,128	1,000	740	12	10,000	26	14	11	Hydrometeorology
G. Iu. Vereshchagin ..............	1964	43.6	530	400	296	10	7,500	20	15	7	Limnology of Lake Baikal
Akademik Topchiev ..............	1967	45.4	208	450	333	22 km/hr	900km	12	20	5	Diversified studies of rivers and lakes
Akademik Vavilov ..............	1956	26.8	103	300	222	22 km/hr	1,200km	10	18	2	Diversified studies of rivers and lakes
Merkurii ..............	1974	34.0	232.7	226	226	—	1,945	28	14	3	Hydrometeorology of Lake Baikal
Foreign scientific research vessels
Vema ..............	1923	67	743	600	444	10	6,000	20	16	10	Diversified oceanography
Atlantis II ..............	1962	64	2,300	2,400	1,776	10	8,000	30	25	4	Physical oceanography, geophysics
Oceanographer ..............	1964	92.3	3,805	5,000	3,700	16	16,000	55	45	10	Diversified oceanography
Melville ..............	1969	74.5	2,075	2,500	1,850	13	10,000	23	27	6	Physical oceanography, geophysics
Hero ..............	1966	38.2	300	760	562	10	6,000	10	14	4	Biology, geophysics
Glomar Challenger ..............	1968	122	10,500	10,000	7,400	12	90 days	46	24	6	Drilling on ocean floor
Calypso ..............	1942 (1951)	40	360	600	444	12	5,000	12	10	1	Underwater research
Jean Charcot ..............	1965	74.5	2,200	2,000	1,480	15	10,000	30	25	12	Diversified oceanography
Meteor ..............	1952	43	470	720	532	10	4,000	20	15	3	Physical oceanography
Discovery ..............	1962	93.5	2,800	3,000	2,220	10	15,000	45	21	6	Diversified oceanography
Sars Michael ..............	1969	70	2,000	3,340	2,471	12	15,000	30	15	7	Ichthyology, biology
Hakuho Maru ..............	1967	95	3,225	2,200	1,628	12	15,000	55	32	8	Diversified oceanography
Umitaka Maru ..............	1955	68	2,100	2,100	1,554	13	14,000	47	12	4	Biology, ichthyology
General San Martin ..............	1954	84.7	5,300	4,800	3,552	8.5	30,000	1,700	38	6	Physical oceanography
“Space service” scientific research vessels
Kosmonavt lurii Gagarin ..............	1972	231	45,000	19,000	14,060	15.5	130 days	155	280	110	Space research and studies of upper atmosphere
Akademik Sergei Korolev ..............	1970	182	22,000	12,000	8,880	15	120 days	140	165	45	Space research and studies of upper atmosphere
Kosmonavt Vladimir Komarov ..............	1967	156	17,580	9,000	6,660	13.5	100 days	115	125	47	Space research and studies of upper atmosphere
General Vandenberg ..............	1964	159.4	16,600	9,000	6,660	17	60 days	100	100	—	Receiving data from objects in space
Redstone ..............	1966	181.4	22,300	10,000	7,400	16	60 days	44	108	—	Receiving data from objects in space
American Manner ..............	1959 (1962)	134	10,650	2,500	1,850	10.5	50 days	60	90	—	Receiving data from objects in space

research vessels are outfitted with specialized laboratory equipment and instruments and deck structures appropriate to their principal mission. All shipboard observations and research are carried out by a staff of scientific and technical specialists assisted by members of the ship’s crew. These ships vary in tonnage from tens of tons to 45,000 tons. The number of shipboard laboratories depends on the tonnage of each ship and ranges from two on vessels of the Akademik Vavilov class to 100 or more on vessels of the Kosmonavt Iurii Gagarin class.

In the USSR scientific research vessels are operated by the academies of sciences of the USSR and the Union republics, the Chief Administration of the Hydrometeorological Service (GUGMS) of the USSR, the Ministry of the Fishing Industry, the Ministry of Geology, the Central Board of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, the Ministry of the Shipbuilding Industry, educational institutions, and other departments.

The scientific research fleet of the USSR comprises vessels engaged in diversified work and vessels designed for more specialized missions: weather service ships, which study processes in the oceans and the atmosphere, geophysical ships, which study geophysical processes in the ocean, and space research and support ships, which conduct space research and provide assistance during spaceflights. Data collection of value to commercial efforts is also conducted by scientific research vessels operated by the Ministry of the Fishing Industry and specialized ships of the Ministry of Geology. The Soviet expeditionary fleet, the largest in the world, operates in all parts of the world’s oceans.

The first expeditionary ship, the Persei, was constructed in 1922 for research in the northern seas. Prior to the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, all research was conducted on transport vessels, icebreakers, commercial fishing vessels, and hydrographic vessels temporarily converted for expeditions. The USSR used such ships to conduct 27 marine expeditions in arctic seas during the Second International Polar Year (1932). After the war, the scientific research vessel Vitiaz’ was commissioned and for the next 18 years served as the flagship of the Soviet expeditionary fleet. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, a series of specially designed and constructed scientific research ships, for example, the Akademik Kurchatov, was placed in service to keep pace with rapid advances in marine research. A new type of scientific research vessel, equipped for studying the upper atmosphere and outer space from the ocean’s surface, appeared in the mid-1960’s. The flagship of this class, the Kosmonavt Iurii Gagarin, is the largest research vessel in the world (see Table la).

The mainstays of the scientific research fleet for lakes and rivers are modified or converted river vessels and launches (seeSURVEY SHIP). The best-equipped river vessels engaged in scientific research are maintained by the Institute of the Biology of Inland Waters of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in the Volga River basin (Akademik Topchiev, Borok, Nauka) and on Lake Baikal (G. Iu. Vereshchagin), by the Chief Administration of the Hydrometeorological Service (the scientific research vessel Merkurii), and by other organizations.

Scientific research vessels in use abroad during the early postwar period were primarily specially converted ships. The design and construction of specialized research vessels began in the 1960’s. Ships of this type include those of the Oceanographer series and the drilling ship Glomar Challenger (USA), the Hakuho Maru and Edo (Japan), Capricorne and Jean Charcot (France), Charterer (Great Britain), Quadra (Canada), and the Alexander Humboldt (German Democratic Republic). The USA has the largest fleet of scientific research vessels, followed by Japan, Canada, France, Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Argentina. All these ships are equipped with modern research equipment. They are primarily engaged in research programs.

In addition to surface vessels, underwater research vessels took on a major role in the study of the ocean depths during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Their work includes direct studies of benthic organisms and their interactions, studies of the continental shelf (the most productive biological region), and the collection of geological ore samples. In the USSR such research has been conducted by the Severianka and Sever-1. Vessels used abroad include the Deep Jeep, Alvin, Aluminaut, Cubmarine, and Ashera (USA), Pisces (Canada), Archimede (France), and Kuroshio, Yomiuri, and Kawasaki (Japan).

REFERENCES

Deriugin, K. K. Sovetskie okeanograficheskie ekspeditsii. Leningrad, 1968.
Suziumov, E. M., and S. I. Ushakov. Novye korabli nauki. Moscow, 1969.

E. M. SUZIUMOV